[Updated]
By Spencer Ackerman
February 11, 2011 | 2:19 pm |
Courtesy Of "Wired's Danger Room"
Pretty much every military coup is predicated on being a temporary, emergency measure. But barely two hours after Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak resigned, the Egyptian military indicated in a short statement that it’s not going to stand in the way of the popular democracy movement that forced Mubarak from office.
“The army is not an alternative to the authority of the demands of the people,” read a statement from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which now governs the country. Steven A. Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations informs me that Field Marshal Muhammed Hussein Tantawi, the defense minister and head of the council, read the statement himself.
The statement stopped short of outlining a transition to civilian control, saying instead it was studying the issue and would present a plan in its next communique. But Tantawi (if that’s who read the statement) gave a formal military salute to the “martyrs” who died during the Egyptian revolution of the past 18 days. “To all the nations of the world we seek assistance, and guidance from God,” the statement read. Elections are expected by August or September, but that was before Mubarak abdicated.
Sherif Mansour of Freedom House wasn’t so concerned about the lack of an immediate plan for returning Egypt to civilian control. “They’re still formulating their message” for a caretaker government, Mansour said. It would have been worse if the military “already had a plan in mind” that it laid out today, “but their delay means they want to hear what people say their role should be.”
SEE ALSO:
Perhaps. But the call for international cooperation is likely to merit sighs of relief from Washington. The U.S. military believes it has a large storehouse of goodwill to call upon from its Egyptian client. And 30 years of a complicated sponsorship of an Egyptian dictator equipped the U.S. government poorly to unequivocally support the revolutionaries. President Obama is scheduled to speak at 3 p.m. EST, and the #Jan25 revolutionaries will be listening for any signals from the White House about a transition to democratic civilian control.
Update, 3:10 p.m.: And there it is from Obama: “Egyptians have made it clear that nothing less than genuine democracy can carry the day.” The Egyptian military has served “patriotically and responsibly” and now “will have to ensure a translation that is credible to its people… laying out a clear path to elections that are fair and free.”
Photo: Flickr/AlJazeeraEnglish
No comments:
Post a Comment